Chapter 1 – Dreams

Chapter Summary: Luke awakens in his cell in the Death Star from another of his memory dreams. He is comforted by Princess Leia in the cell next to him.

Full Summary: At the age of six Luke Skywalker was taken from his farm on Tatooine by Darth Vader, this propelled all of Luke's friends and family to make their way into the alliances grasp, to help fight against the Empire, and perhaps to regain Luke. After twelve more years had passed, Luke is imprisoned on the Death Star, with no memory of his former life as a servant of the Dark Side, or as a farmboy from Tatooine. There are only mental images which remain, and lead the way for him to discover his identity.

Among the things that he will deal with are the inclusion of Princess Leia in his life, and soon to be the ever present Obi-wan Kenobi and Han Solo, and eventually he will fall into the grasp of the Rebellion. Yet, as he sorts his way through his memories, he becomes immersed within the Force, and eventually his path will lead him down towards darkness, and he will have to fight lest he be sworn into the Dark Side…

Timeline: This story begins just before the prison escape/rescue on board the Death Star, and will eventually encompass both the battle of Yavin and Hoth, as well as Bespin. It will end just after Bespin. As A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back are three years apart in canonicity, in this story they will be one year apart.

Disclaimer: Characters and places you recognize, such as Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine, and Coruscant, belong to George Lucas and Lucasfilms. Within this story there will be many unknown characters who are of my creation, as well as many ideas. Other characters will undoubtedly belong to George Lucas. No money is being made and no copyright infringement is intended.

Point of Notice: It is unfortunate to say that Palpatine is dead in this fic, yet he will make some brief appearances, either in dreams, or in actual life as he makes his way into one of his clones. But he will be in it, just not at the beginning. And there is an Emperor, I just wont mention him as such until later. He will remain hidden.

Point of Notice: (In case you didn't read it above:) It is unfortunate to say that Palpatine is dead in this fic, yet he will make some brief appearances, either in dreams, or in actual life as he makes his way into one of his clones. But he will be in it, just not at the beginning. And there is an Emperor, I just wont mention him as such until later. He will remain hidden.

Luke Skywalker was dreaming. It wasn't one of those normal dreams though, where you would have to find your own interpretation to what it means. It was one of those dreams which dwelled within the memories of the past. Something that he didn't know much of, the Past. He could feel himself squirming and feigning, and yelling into the cell. He could feel the pain and suffering, and the whole message that the dream rotated around.

Who was Luke Skywalker's father?

It was the one thing that he never knew, and the one thing that he was determined to find out.

--

Tatooine

There was a man who stood on the rocky outcropping watching the twin suns, Tatoo1 and Tatoo2, the suns of the planet, rise over the seemingly endless expanse of the Dune Sea. He was watching from above as the entire dark sand was illuminated in shades of red, orange and yellow, enlightening all of the expanses that lay before him. Yet of the entire expanse that he was watching, he laid his eyes on the small settlement before him.

For the past six years, he had been on this planet, watching, and waiting for the right time to begin training the youthful boy. He had spent so long trying to convince Owen and Beru that this was the right thing to do, but so far he had gotten nowhere at all with them. His own half brother had driven the Jedi Knight right off the moisture farm, away from his family, and away from his ideals. His other adopted son, Raymus Fokker, better known as 'Roy' by his close friends, had agreed at the time, but also agreed with Obi-wan Kenobi that Luke should be trained as a Jedi to combat the Sith.

'Roy' didn't even understand much of this relationship between the Sith and Jedi, or that between his tentative uncles and aunts, but there was something hidden there that he had to work through.

Obi-wan had tasked himself to watch over young Luke, and it was what he had hoped to be able to achieve. He was one of the last known Jedi Knights and Masters in the Galaxy, all the others had either been rounded up and killed, or imprisoned beneath the Halls of Sleep. He had heard rumours of this place, it was a place where all of the Jedi had been transferred to, where they would remain until the Sith would be ready to finish them off. Why though? He didn't understand why. It was impossible for him to understand why.

The Jedi would secretly visit the Lars homestead to check on Luke, though his supposed 'brother', Owen had made it clear that he wasn't welcome there. There always seemed to be a fear to Owen Lars. Fear of Vader, and fear that Obi-Wan would come to take Luke away for training. For all of his gruff demeanor, Owen didn't want to lose his adopted son. a adopted son that he could actually call son.

Of course for Owen though, he had two sons. Compared to Luke though, 'Roy' was much more just a kid that he had promised to guard. He remembered how he had gotten the youth. The man, Gordian, who was 'Roy's' father, and also one of Owen's oldest and closest friends, had made Owen promise to take care of him, for fear of the war back on his planet. He had to oblige him, mainly because they had once been like brothers. But what he didn't want to tell the youth, was that his father had died many years ago, but somehow, though, Roy had known.

Raymus 'Roy' Fokker was a normal sandy haired kid. Blond haired and blue eyed, and had within him much of his father's vigorous spirit. Owen thought that he had inherited much more than that, even as much as his father's lifestyle and unique skill. He was an adept fighter, and could fly almost anything. Besides this though, he seems inherited many of his father's daredevil aspects, including a cavalier attitude towards women. As much as Own disapproved of him flying, he could not stop him from following in his fathers footsteps.

But he could stop Luke from following his father in his.

At times he wondered whether or not Luke should know the truth about his father. He had considered calling Obi-wan a lot, but didn't want him coming here and explaining a half-truth. Yet the truth would be no better than the truth that he himself had told Luke, which was that his father was a pilot on a spice freighter that had died mysteriously. Luke had asked him for more, and even Roy had begged on Luke's behalf for more information about his father, but all Owen had done was yell at them, and scowl at them, making sure that they got the message that he didn't want to talk about Luke's father.

As a result of this, both Luke and Roy had got the feeling that his father was someone that had done something drastic in his life, so drastic that he could not be talked about. Luke wished that he had known him, as did Roy for some reason. It would have been exciting to have met a pilot, even if he was a space freighter pilot.

The relationship between the two boys was friendly at best. Although Roy was eleven years older that Luke, there was nothing but brotherly love and understanding between them. They had a relationship that revolved around protection. There was no competition between them, just total devotion. Even at their age it was strange, Luke being six and Roy being seventeen. In a way, Roy was much more like a father figure for Luke.

It was in this way that together they actually headed off for some time out into the desert and visiting some towns in search of something about Luke's father. Unknown to Luke though, Roy had somehow asked permission for him and Luke to head off into the desert for a little brotherly love activity, to see how far their bond went, and how much they could learn about the desert in the process. Seemingly, they were able to hide everything from Owen about their true cause.

Who is Luke Skywalker's father?

They had set out in search for the man whom Luke would call his father. Either to find him, or any man whom they hoped had some information about him. It was one effort to strengthen their bond, but another to hopefully enlighten the spirit of the young Skywalker.

--

Luke awoke with a start. There was a small yell, but it was nothing compared to what he had been through before. The dreams were rare, of course, but they did cause a great amount of pain and suffering. He took in a few breathes, and then swallowed. Staring down at his right hand, he watched as it shook for a moment. He had to bring his other hand and place it on top of it to make it stop shaking. As the skin touched each other, he stopped shaking, and merely sighed to himself. Nodding silently, he brought his hand up to his head, and merely ran it through his hair. Pausing for a moment, he could feel small tears of sweat leaking down the side of his neck and face, culminating below and into his clothes. It seemed to trickle down from above his hairline, and make its way towards the outside of his body.

It was strange, even when he thought of the dream, that it didn't really scare or frighten him. After all, it was just a memory, and memories do all sorts of things to you. They can affect you in any way that seems viable. And compared to a normal dream, or a nightmare, this was not even that strange, or confusing. It was merely something from his past that seemed to tell itself in story form, and after all, he had lost all of it due to his unknowing kidnapping.

All that he had somehow found out about himself was that he had been taken from his farm at the age of six, by some man, hooded and cloaked in black. He remembered it clearly, the memory of his aunt and uncle screaming, and of his friends begging the man to leave him where he was, and not to take him away. There was fire and death surrounding him, and a fear of loss and of being taken. He had been frightened, but that had all somehow changed as time went by. He had gotten used to the man in black, as, after all, he had actually seen him now and then when he had been allowed out on his daily exercise.

The man in black was called by the crew Darth Vader, and he was the one that had bought the young prisoner aboard. And every time that Luke saw him, all he could sense was a familial bond between them, and a strange feeling of trust. Everyone else he could feel was scared of him, and they feigned away from him, or within sight of him. Truth be told, he was tall, and clad in raiment of black. And, like the familial bond that he could feel, there was an aura around him of death, and perhaps even aggression and hatred. Whatever it was though, it was evil.

Luke quickly flushed all of these thoughts and memories aside, and concentrated on the now. He was stuck in a cell with no way out, and one door. It was all cramped and completely covered in a metallic alloy. There was a ventilation shaft at the side of the room, and one above the door. The one on the side of the cell led into the cells next to it. The bed or the supposed bed was actually hard and uncomfortable, and was above all, different to the person who had been used to sleeping in linen and comfortable sheets. Smiling gently he thought back to when he had first slept in a bed, and as he thought hard, he found out that he couldn't remember.

The young man sighed to himself, and made his way back to the hard bench. As he laid down he thought over the dream again, and thought on what he knew. But it was then that he was interrupted by a young voice through the ventilation at the far end of the bench.

"Are you alright in there?" it asked with a slightly raised, and yet clam tone of voice. To Luke it was like harmony, and peaceful. Almost like a person singing with a particular beat with every sound, and verse. "It sounded like you had another dream."

Luke smiled again, making his way over to the shaft he stood up and looked through. What he saw didn't surprise him, besides the fact that there was a face staring back at him. She was beautiful, with a young face, and sleek skin, and her hair was done up in small buns on the outside of her ears. He smiled at her, and she did so back, though with a worried look, obviously she had heard him scream before.

Luke breathed in. "It's nothing that I couldn't handle."

"I'm sure," she replied in an even tone. "But I was just concerned as you seemed to be in a lot of pain. And surprisingly, Vader is not in your room."

The young man sneered, pulling his head away from the grate. "Vader couldn't do anything to me. He is too weak." He paused for a moment, earning a curious glance from the lady.

"And you know this how?" she asked in a curious tone.

Luke sighed to himself. He had no idea how he was going to get out of this one. "I just know things, that all. It seems that he is just…not that intimidating, or frightening." He faced her through the grate. "I do know that you weren't intimidated by him at all as you seemed to deflect everything that he sent against you when you were being interrogated. You seem to have a strong will."

She smiled through the grate. "Thank you," she started, but stopped as she heard a door open beside her. She turned suddenly and noticed that it didn't open in her room, but rather in Luke's room.

Luke stared at the man as he entered, and barely registered who he was, and only that he was wearing black. The younger man cringed, and sneered at him, swelling up in his anger. The man smiled at him, sensing, as well as feeling all of what was going though him, and all that he wanted to do. But he had no intention of doing anything to this rebel, or the princess for that matter, as he knew that it would mean his death if that happened.

Nodding to himself so that Luke could see, he merely left the room quickly and made his way to the cell on the opposite side of the one Luke was in. the door closed and Luke cocked his head and wondered what all that was about. Besides him Leia called in through the vent.

"What was that about?" her voice was full of wonder, and yet a bit frightened.

Luke shook his head in reply, and responded calmly. "I have no idea."

Death Star Conference Room

Darth Vader stood as silent as a statue, merely standing in his position, unwavering and unmoving. His undermining presence, coupled by his height and stature demanded that he be obeyed, and that loyalty be instilled by those below him. He was a man to be feared. Besides the fact that he was clothed in black, and also that there was a great mechanical respirator sounding from within him, you would not have even known that he was a real person, besides being a statue, or a decoratory piece of art.

His breathing sent a small shiver down the spine of the Grand Moff, and he shivered in response to it. It was an unnerving sound, and was frightening in the least. Tarkin merely stared at him for a moment. The Sith Lord himself had no respect for proper military, and thought that he was in a position of power to order everyone whom he thought was below him out of the way. It was things like this that made him not really like the Sith Lord, and felt that he was nothing but an upstart, a nuisance.

But then again, the Emperor did say to treat with him, and that is what everyone in the military did. Or at least attempted to do.

Nodding at the Dark Lord he spoke out against him. "Is that really necessary, Lord Vader?" he started, watching the form of Darth Vader waver suddenly, "I mean, do we really need to keep the princess around for much longer. Her home world has been destroyed, and the remnants of her people are scattered like leaves in a wind. There is no need for her to be kept alive."

The Dark Lord's kept his breathing in pace, and stared at the Grand Moff. He did hate the military indeed, but especially those who didn't obey him, or were still partly loyal to the ideals of Chancellor Palpatine, especially those who had known him.

"It is a necessary objection to keep her here, Tarkin," he returned in a stern tone. "She may yet be of use to use, especially in tracking down the Rebellion. After all, if we do execute her the Rebellion will have an excuse to fight us more out in the open. They could grow in numbers. Already, by your destruction of Alderaan you would have increased their numbers in the thousands of their people that remain."

Tarkin considered that for a moment before firing back. "It is unnecessary what the remnants of Alderaan do now Lord Vader. Either if they are loyal Imperialists or disadvantaged Rebels. They are of no concern. They will soon be destroyed. She should be killed along with them."

"She will remain alive for as long as I deem it necessary," Vader bellowed openly for a moment. "There is no point in conducting this investigation any longer. She will remain alive. There may still be other uses for to remain so."

"If that is what you believe is right," Tarkin stammered, but cut off the Dark Lord. "Then perhaps your young test subject, the male, would submit to be put in her place."

"Don't touch him either," the Sith Lord threw at him all of a sudden. He was angered at the thought of the boy being taken away to be killed as a substitute for the princess. Tarkin seemed taken aback. "The Emperor is expecting him, Tarkin, don't place him in any danger, or threaten his life. He is extremely valuable."

The Grand Moff, for a moment, made his way to his seat, and as he sat down he cocked his right eyebrow. He thought hard about the information that he had just been given. If the boy was valuable, then he will have a chance to get what he wanted, and get even with the Dark Lord. But even before the Emperor, they were really close. The three of them, Tarkin, the Emperor and Vader had been the closest of allies since the early days of the Empire. It had only been Tarkin's insistence and his eventual continuation of creating the Death Star that he lost favour with the Emperor. But now, with the boy in his grasp, maybe he could change all of that.

But first, he would have to find out more about the boy to do what he wished.

Han had just made the biggest mistake in his life. He would regret it for as long as he had ever lived. He hated himself for it as well.

It was a strange group of people. An old man, called Old Ben by the other two, and those tow being called Aeden Outlander, and a middle aged man named Jereco who had tagged along because he had nothing else to do. Besides them though, there were these two droids who had come along with them, and they had some data within them that was somehow important.

Not that Han cared in the least.

Ever since he had accepted the travelers passage to Alderaan, and taken their money, as well as their supplies and transported them their, he had been in trouble. First it was Greedo the bounty hunter who had come looking for him from Jabba as he had to pay him back some money. The next thing it was a platoon of Stormtroopers firing on his ship, and the subsequent Star Destroyers, and then, to top it all off, as soon as he had exited the hyperspace canal, he had come into contact with a field of asteroids, almost pulverizing himself if he hadn't been able to maneuver gracefully and with experience though field.

Then, to even top that off, he had been followed by a TIE fighter, which was subsequently heading for a small moon which had just been identified as a giant space station. Han knew he was making his biggest mistake, and as he remained looking forward, he saw the looming shape of the Death Star approach him, consuming the wide vision of the cockpit of the Falcon. He was almost frightened, but showed it off as a totally confident anger against the Empire.

The Falcon shudder even more as it came closer and closer towards the giant battle station, and Han, with his look of confidence, slowly failed, and a look of utter contempt and loss closed in on him. Next to him, one of the following troop of the apparent Jedi spoke up at him.

He leaned in closer to Han's ear, and spoke loudly, almost in a screeching way. "Why are we still moving towards it?" he saw Han turn and stare at him. "There's got to be something you can do!"

Han turned quickly and faced the farm boy. His face was unreadable, but it was almost a mixture of surrender and anticipation of a fight. "Believe me kid but there is nothing that I can do. We're caught in a tractor beam! It's pulling us in!" he paused for a moment, and then stared at the controls, and quickly shut them off. He returned back and faced Aeden. Above all right now, he would like nothing better to do than to fight his way out. "I'm in full power. I'm going to have to shut down. But they're not going to get me without a fight!"

"You can't win, Han," the older man said as Han turned his head towards him. He knew that the older man was the leader of this small little escapade. He cocked his head at him, and knew that he was going somewhere with this. "But there are alternatives to fighting."

Han sighed in disgust, and turned back to the immense hunk of metal that was appearing before him. He shook his head and knew that the older man was probably proposing surrender, but he would have none of that. He would wither fight, or die trying. That was the way of the smugglers. He stared at the small vision before him, and saw all of his confidence melt away as his ship slowly entered the hangar bay.

There was a loud beeping noise along the intercom. Tarkin stared at it for a moment, and watched as the flashing died away, and then reappeared. Tarkin rushed up from his seat in a hurry. He was hoping for some good news as the last amount of news he had received had been an annoyance.

He leaned forward gently. Pushing the button on the intercom, he spoke out gently, in a curious manner. "Yes?"

The voice on the other end merely returned in a bland and even voice. "We've captured a freighter entering the remains of the Alderaan system." It was speaking in a deep tome of voice, and was hard to understand, but most of it did get through. "Its markings match those of a ship that blasted its way out of Mos Eisley."

He stared at Vader for a moment, and then smiled thinly. Vader counteracted quickly. "They must be trying to return the stolen plans to the princess." He was almost laughing at him. "As I said before, she may yet be of some use to us."

"She may, my lord," Tarkin replied in a cunning manner, hoping to bait the Dark Lord into making a mistake. "However we will never know what, or where the plans are until we find out what the princess knows, and those who have the plans. I suggest that you get down there, my friend."

Vader merely nodded and resigned to the fact that although he was the Military Executer for the Empire, and was in overall command, under the Emperor, of the military, he was merely the overseer of the project as Tarkin was in overall command of it. He left quickly to avoid more confrontation. He chuckled to himself, and made his way out of the room.

Tarkin merely stared at him as he left, and he barrowed deep into his thoughts. He knew that the Dark lord was up to something, but what it was he yet didn't know. What could Vader be up to now? Ever since he had set foot on the Death Star things most likely would have gone wrong from the beginning. He had to set things straight, that he was in overall command, and that Vader was beneath him here. Although, in the end, Vader had the Emperor's ear, and was well within his circles of allies, and most trusted servants.

Tarkin on the other hand had been pushed aside, and now with the aide of the Death Star plans he hoped to humiliate Lord Vader once and for all and to assume his rightful place within the Empire, besides the Emperor, that being the true Emperor. It was all part of the struggle for power, a struggle for power by which death and insurrections were the key to survival. He would win through in the end, he knew it.

Obi-wan started in the small smuggling hole. It may have been cramped in there, but otherwise he was in a position to scope things out for the best. Searching through his feelings, he went through the various aura's and fell through the senses of the other people. He had to try to find Leia, and get her out of here quickly lest her father come and understand who she really was. As he searched through the various decks, his mind wandered back to that day several years ago.

He had been too late to save Luke from the Empire, and form his father. And he had watched Owen and Beru deliver themselves, as well as the surrounding families into the Rebellions hands. He wasn't pleased that he didn't succeed in getting Luke back from Vader, nor was he pleased that he hadn't been able to find out where Owen, Beru and the Darklighters and some others had gone. They had all disappeared. It was only lucky for him that he had the Outlanders nearby who had been Force sensitive, and he had been able to train a visibly powerful young Aeden.

Suddenly he brought himself back to the now, and found the Force presence that he had been looking for. It did seem a lot easier than it would usually be, but he had found her. He had found Leia. It was a good thing, so now she could begin her training to becoming a Jedi night, and perhaps even more. She had to do it as she was the only one who could bring Anakin Skywalker back.

But then his mind suddenly warped, and went to the cell next to hers, and it was there that he fond someone interesting. It was someone with a lower Force presence, but it was large enough to be a nuisance to Darth Vader. It was strange, but as he probed around in their minds, he could sense a familial bond between them. They would have to both be rescued ere the end of the day was out, and they would both be great assets to the Jedi.

Obi-wan smiled to himself, and turned suddenly to Aeden and Jereco. Facing them in the dark he had to whisper carefully. "I need your help," he started in a small manner, earning both of their attentions though. He could even sense Han nearby pick up his ears and listen.

"We are at your disposal, master," Aeden himself started, but was hushed down quickly as to his loudness. Next to him Jereco started as well.

"What do you need?" he asked in his silent manner.

"There are some prison cells that you need to get to," they both seemed to be in shock when he last said this, and as their eyes met they thought that he was joking. "I need you to rescue the Princess and the boy next door to her, by any means necessary, but if you can, you should do it with caution."

They nodded gently. Aeden though raised his head in suspicion and curiosity. "What are you going to be doing, master?"

"I have my own destiny," he silently stated, "my own mission. My own path to tread. But I will meet you back here when we are all done."

Aeden was about to reply but was shut off by a quick glance from Obi-wan who appeared to be ill disposed to Aeden's character. He still had much to learn. And there was still much to do before he was ready.

Luke's eyes shot open all of a sudden. He felt something just flow though his head as if it wasn't even there, but yet, there. Something was wrong, and it didn't seem to work. It was like a calm feeling, a strange but enlightening feeling. He felt overpowered by the sense of good within it. He smiled to himself, as if he knew that everything was going to be alright. He slowly made his way to the grate to tell Leia what was happening. She would be pleased as well, as it was good news. They were gong to be all right.

They were going to be all right.

Please review.

Just so you know, the character of Arden Outlander is going to be a replacement for Luke in some sentences, and they will both be vying for Obi-wan attention in the first few chapters. Aeden though is not Luke's replacement in entirety, but rather in principle.

Luke is still his own character though.

Also, soon we shall seen Han Solo, with a sister. And as a spoiler, she will be very annoying, and in the end of the story she will be killed off, making Han very antagonistic to one of the characters.